Maggie Tideswell

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a bestselling South African author with a passion for romance. There are always ghosts in the story complicating the process of falling in love. All my books are set in and around Cape Town, South Africa. I have self-published 4 books and the last 2 were published by Trifecta Publishing House.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest is a duology (a series of 2 books) titles Roxanne’s Ghost Saga, which is the story of identical twins’ love for the same man. When I was at university – I was a psychology major – I was fascinated by twin-studies. When 2 people are genetically almost, but not quite, identical, the simmelarities and differences between them were what interested me most. The theme of twins reccur in my work, pretty much as ghosts do. With ghosts, those who linger after death, it was the reasons why some people rest in peace and others do not that drew me to write about them.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I think me printing my WIP is a bit strange in this day and age, but a printed manuscript is portable and I do take it with me where-ever I go. My current story is never far from my mind, and who knows when I’m going to think of something to add, a better line of dialogue, whatever. I find it better to make changes/add directly to the ms instead of making notes on bits of paper or even in a note book.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read widely and all authors have an influence. I love reading romance, history, intrigue, anything really except sci-fi and I’m not a great fan of fantacy, but it depends. Dan Brown, Ken Follett, Barbara Erskine, even Kathy Reichs, to name but a few, have influenced my interests when I create my own stories

What are you working on now?
My current WIP is another duology titled JJ. This one is stepping out of my comfort zone because it is the only one of my stories that has a … vampire. I’m not a fan of vamires and zombies and the like, and I never thought I would have a vampire in one of my books, but this guy wanted to be a vampire and there was nothing I could do about it. It was a bit like my ghosts – I could set about to write a straight forward love story and before I know it there is a ghost on the page who doesn’t want to go away. Best is to give the guy – or girl – a job. Same with this vampire guy. He was very insistent.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Oh yes, I do! My advice for all aspiring authors is two-fold: you have to write every day and grow a thick skin. Writing is a craft much the same as becoming say a chef of a mechanic – it takes time to perfect your craft. Practice, practice, practice is what makes perfect. And when I say grow a thick skin, bear this in mind – you won’t ever be able to please everyone. Strive for pleasing some of the people some of the time. There is always going to be critisism – and some critics can be really harsh! Take from the critisism what you can use to improve your writing or story crafting and disregard the rest. But at the same time, many, many readers might enjoy what you have to say. Those are the readers you need to find!

What are you reading now?
At the moment I’m reading Philippa Gregory’s A King’s Curse.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have many projects waiting for me to complete and publish them. After the JJ duolgy, I think I should finish my Bridesmaids, Weddings & Honeymoons series. The first 3 books are out already and there are 2 more to come. Then I would like to finish my Moragh Saga, a trilogy. Book 1, A Convenient Marriage is already out, and book 2, titled Poppet Nicole is nearly finished and I hope to publish it next year. 2018 is going to be another busy year for me – if I stick to my plan I will have another 5 books out, bringing my total published books to 11!